ELEMENTS OF THE PERUVIAN STATE AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The most important elements of the Peruvian State are the territorial organization and the political organization, the latter being separated into the legislative, executive and judicial powers. The Republic of Peru is a democratic nation, whose order is structured in different powers and institutions.

These elements serve to establish the State, which aims to govern the country and serve its citizens. Other elements are the laws, the people, the territory, the sovereignty and the constitution; the latter establishes laws, rights, separation of powers, etc.

The Peruvian nation physically encompasses an area of ​​1,285,216.20 square kilometers, with a coastline of 3,080 square kilometers. It has, according to the latest data (2017), a population of 32.17 million inhabitants.

Lima, seat of the capital of the Republic, has an area divided under the political-administrative organizations known as the department of Lima, within which is located Metropolitan Lima.

This is governed by a form of provincial government not attached to any department. It is the most populated city in Peru with almost ten million inhabitants.

Peru is a nation that has managed to politically and administratively integrate the natural resources and benefits that its territory contributes to the development and sustenance of the elements of the State, creating laws for the conservation and sustainable exploitation of its items.

Main elements of the State of Peru

Territorial organization

The Republic of Peru is divided into 24 departments or regions, not counting the Province of Lima. These have a regional government and are in turn divided into municipalities or provinces, with their own mayor. Until 2015 there were 196 provinces among all the departments of the Peruvian nation.

In turn, each province or municipality is divided into districts, allowing a better organization in the most populated sectors of each province or department.

The same standards of democratic representation apply to both the departments and the provinces.

Peru is considered one of the countries with the greatest biodiversity within its territories, sharing elevated spaces such as the Andes or the deserts closest to the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean.

As a nation, they have adhered to their policies, plans and practices of conservation and protection for these regions.

In total, 14 National Parks are officialized throughout the territory, and there are also other protection and conservation areas such as protection forests, refuges, reserves and sanctuaries.

You may be interested in knowing more about the flora of the Peruvian coast or the 20 most surprising native animals of Peru.

Political and government system

Congress Palace

The Republic of Peru has a system of democratic representation, protected by the universal and secret vote as a form of election of rulers.

As a Republic, the functions of the Peruvian State and its institutions are governed by the articles of the Political Constitution of Peru, whose last official version dates from 1993, with some minor reforms until 2017.

The Peruvian political system is based on the division of powers as follows:

- Executive power

Represented by the Presidency of the Republic and the Council of Ministers. The Constitution attributes to the President the functions of Head of State and Head of Government, and he in turn elects his Council of Ministers with each new rise to power.

While the president watches over the sovereignty and defense of the Peruvian State, the Council of Ministers is in charge of the correct functioning of the Peruvian Public Powers.

In Peru, the president is elected every five years and can be re-elected up to a maximum of two non-consecutive terms. The current president of the Republic of Peru is Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, elected in the last electoral elections held in 2016.

- Legislative power

Represented by the Congress of the Republic. It is one of the fundamental pillars of participatory democracy.

In the Peruvian case, the Congress is unicameral and has 130 deputies representing different political parties and departments of the nation.

Its main function is the proposal of new laws that benefit civil society or the reform of existing ones according to the needs of the State.

- Power of attorney

Palace of Justice of Lima

Represented by the Supreme Court of Justice. It is the only autonomous power whose representatives are not directly elected by civil society.

Below the Supreme Court of Justice are the Superior Courts of Justice and the Courts of First Instance, as departmental or district representatives at the jurisdiction level.

The Political Constitution of Peru defines these powers as autonomous, whose purpose is the service and defense of the Peruvian State, regardless of the positions or ideologies of the government in power.

The Constitution also contemplates another series of autonomous institutions detached from the main powers, whose bases have a mainly civil character such as the Public Ministry, Ombudsman's Office, Comptroller General of the Republic, National Council of the Magistracy, Constitutional Court, National Registry of Identification and Civil Status; economic entities such as the Central Reserve Bank and the Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and AFP; and electoral processes such as the National Office of Electoral Processes and the National Elections Jury.

Other aspects

Peru, as a nation born from a process of settlement through aboriginal civilizations, a colonization and its subsequent independence, has a mestizo population and remnants of ancient ethnic groups that still inhabit the national territory.

Spanish is the official and mother tongue of the majority of the population, but up to fifty dialects and indigenous languages ​​such as Quechua or Aymara, recognized as co-official languages, continue in practice.

The preservation and citizen participation of indigenous peoples in Peru is protected by the Law for the protection of indigenous or native peoples in isolation and in a situation of initial contact, promulgated in 2006.

The Republic of Peru belongs to multiple international organizations that have facilitated its political and economic development and evolution.

It is a member country of the UN, and continentally belongs to other groups such as the Andean Community, OAS, UNASUR, MERCOSUR.

It has promoted the increase in trade agreements and international cooperation through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, which places it on an equal footing with nations such as the United States, Canada, China, Japan and Russia, among others. As well as the Pacific Alliance, which includes only states of the American continent.

References

1. Alvarez, S. (sf). The Making of Social Movements in Latin America. Westview Press.
2. Democratic Constituent Congress. (1993). Political Constitution of Peru. Lime.
3. Congress of the republic. (2006). Law for the protection of indigenous or native peoples in a situation of initial contact. Lime.
4. General data. (sf). Obtained from the Congress of the Republic: congreso.gob.pe.
5. Presidential office. (sf). Obtained from the Presidency of the Republic of Peru: presidencia.gob.pe.
6. Klaren, PF (nd). Peru: Society and Nationhood in the Andes. George Washington University.